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Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Notes from NMPC meeting for residents on WHBC Local Plan

A brief report on the North Mymms Parish Council meeting for residents last night, in which Parish Councillors were keen to hear the views of residents on WHBC's Local Plan These views will form the basis of the NMPC's response to the consultation.It will come as no surprise that the overwhelming majority of residents attending expressed opposition to any loss of Green Belt land, and support for the idea of a new Garden City in Hertfordshire's non-Green Belt land.Objections to large-scale development around Brookmans Park and Little Heath included the need to protect precious Green Belt land, the need to prevent coalescence of villages and towns, the lack of infrastructure to support hundreds of extra dwellings, the desire to retain the village community.The meeting ended with Councillors appealing for residents to 'really look around' the North Mymms area for possible brownfield sites - even small ones - and to advise the council of any they may find.Every small development will count, and a few small developments may obviate the need for one large development. Already Brookmans Park is experiencing some increase in new dwellings through houses being turned into flats, and in addition, plans are being submitted to demolish detached houses to build pairs of semis. These can be viewed on WHBC's planning portal.The CPRE (Council for the Protection of Rural England) ran a successful national campaign last year inviting people to identify brownfield sites in their area, and found land enough for 1 million new homes. Their website ishttp://www.cpre.org.uk/